DEM Party engages in talks with AKP after Öcalan visit

ANKARA

The Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) has held discussions with the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) following a rare visit to Abdullah Öcalan, the jailed PKK leader serving life on a prison island off Istanbul.

The visit to Öcalan marked the first such meeting in nearly a decade. The pro-Kurdish DEM Party's predecessor, the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), last met him in April 2015.

DEM Party's delegation, made up of lawmakers Sırrı Süreyya Önder and Pervin Buldan, traveled to the island on Dec. 28 after the government approved the party's request.

They were joined by the party’s former mayor, Ahmet Türk, in subsequent parliamentary talks.

After meeting with Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli last week, the group held talks with Future Party leader Ahmet Davutoğlu on Dec. 6.

Later in the day, they met with AKP parliamentary leaders Abdullah Güler and Özlem Zengin. The ruling party's team also included deputy leader Efkan Ala and spokesperson Ömer Çelik.

DEM Party representatives also held discussions with Felicity Party (SP) leader Mahmut Arıkan.

Meetings with Democracy and Progress Party (DEVA Party) leader Ali Babacan and New Welfare Party (YRP) leader Fatih Erbakan were scheduled for Jan. 7. The İYİ (Good) Party declined to meet with the delegation.

Meanwhile, main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) officials said a meeting with the DEM Party delegation could take place later this week.

The pro-Kurdish party also plans to visit former HDP co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş, who remains in custody at Silivri prison, following the conclusion of its parliamentary meetings.

After they returned from the island, a DEM Party statement issued on Dec. 29 said Öcalan is "ready to make a call" to back a new initiative by the Turkish government to end decades of conflict.

Detained 25 years ago by Turkish security forces in Kenya after years on the run, Öcalan was sentenced to death. However, Türkiye abolished capital punishment in 2004 and he is spending his remaining years in an isolation cell on the prison island.

The visit became possible after Bahçeli invited Öcalan to come to parliament to renounce terror and disband PKK. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, his ally, backed the appeal as a "historic window of opportunity."